Canine the culprit after being locked in Catonsville church for five days

An article in the April 12, 1913, edition ofThe Argus reported on the surprising culprit after a church's interior was found damaged.

What was at first supposed to be the work of vandals, bent on spite-work, at the Catonsville Presbyterian Church last week, when some of the carpet was ripped up and torn, the wires of a stereopticon machine cut and the doors badly mutilated, proved to be the work of a stray dog which was imprisoned in the church from Sunday night until Friday.

It is supposed the dog wandered into the church during the Sunday night service and was unknowingly locked in by the janitor.

In his effort to release himself during his long imprisonment, he gnawed at the carpet and severed several wires of a stereopticon machine.

Mr. Frederick Miller, an electrician, went to the church on Friday night to do some electrical work, and was nearly frightened out of his wits when, on opening the door, he was met by the almost starved and famished dog which made a break for liberty.

Mr. Miller did not report the occurrence until the following day. In the meantime, the janitor had visited the church and reported the damage to the pastor, Rev. John A Nesbitt, who at first thought it was the work of vandals. Mr. Miller later in the day cleared up the mystery.

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Aroused by the numerous robberies in the past three months, nearly every resident of Ten Hills attended a meeting of the Civic Association of the suburb at the home of Charles H. Steffy, on Chapel Gate lane, last Friday night. It was brought out that the suburb is practically without police protection, and it was decided to send a committee to the County Commissioners with a demand that they be given police service, to which they claim they are entitled as taxpayers in the county.

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Do not overlook the fact that this is your town. You live here, you make your living here, and here is where your interest should lodge. If you like Catonsville, be ever ready to say a good word for it and its people; if you do not like it, move to some other place.

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Charles Smith, employed as a blacksmith by August Poehlmann, had his left hand mashed Thursday morning when shoeing a horse. Smith was attempting to clinch one of the shoes, when the animal put down his foot nearly severing three of Mr. Smith's fingers and cutting the palm. He was attended by Dr. J. Charles Macgill. About a month ago, Mr. Smith suffered an attack of blood poisoning in his right hand which affected his whole arm.

75 Years Ago

An article in the April 8, 1938, edition of The Catonsville Herald and Baltimore Countian listed the security concerns of a local community group.

The next meeting of the recently revived Catonsville Improvement Association will be held next Tuesday evening, April 12, at 8 p.m. in the Catonsville elementary school building. A number of Baltimore county officials, including the County Commissioners, Metropolitan District Engineer, Chief of Police and others, have been invited.

Among the immediate objectives of the Association are widening of some narrow streets; more sidewalks; better traffic regulation; correction of existing unsanitary conditions due to failure of some residents to connect with the sewerage system.

The general public of Catonsville and vicinity is invited to any or all meetings of the Association, and residents are being asked to join the group.

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Catonsville Post No. 25, American Legion, reported that the recent Legion Birthday Party held by the local Post was a great success and that the Post received a membership citation from National Headquarters. The Post Commander and Adjutant also announced that Maryland's part in the National Round-up of Membership Cards, scheduled for April 14, will be greatly assisted by the cooperation of the State Police who will pick up the packages of cards in outlying districts and relay them through until they reach Department Headquarters in Baltimore. Special interest will be lent to this occasion by the presence in Baltimore of National Commander Daniel J. Doherty. Members of all posts of this district will meet at the Southern Hotel at 7:30 p.m. on the date set, April 14, and march to the War Memorial.

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Mr. and Mrs. F.F. Rockwell of Bridgefield, N.J., spent several days recently with Mr. and Mrs. Edmundson Reynolds, Arlington Avenue. Mr. Rockwell is Garden Editor of the New York Times. Mrs. Rockwell, who has written several treatises on flowers, gave a lecture on Flower Arrangement at the University of Maryland during her stay here. On Tuesday, Mrs. Reynolds and Mrs. Rockwell visited the Art Class of the Woman's Club of Relay, and later in the day motored to Frederick, Md., to visit Miss Margaret Reynolds, who is a student at Hood College.

50 Years Ago

An article in the April 11, 1963, edition of the Herald Argus and Baltimore Countian reported on a woman who would not be parted from her pocketbook.

Mrs. Cecelia Murphy of Howard avenue notified police that two young men approached her about 8:40 P.M. on Tuesday, April 2 while she was walking south on Melvin avenue near Frederick road and one of them attempted to grab her pocketbook. In the scuffle, she was knocked to the sidewalk and sustained bruises on both knees and her left hand. The youths failed to get the purse.

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A fight between a group of boys from Catonsville Senior High School and another group from Catonsville Junior High School which took place last week on Bloomingdale avenue near Bloomsbury avenue resulted in injuries to Robert Hooper, Jr., of Braeside road. When the boy arrived home, he called his mother who is employed. She took him to St. Agnes Hospital for treatment.

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While on a routine check of business places on March 31 at 6 A.M. Officers Frank E. Nauman and Lawrence O'Rourke discovered that a door had been forced open at a milk bar at Ingleside avenue and Johnnycake road. The manager said that $50 had been removed from the cash register.

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William Koppelmann, 52, of Oakland road, was removed in the Catonsville Fire Department ambulance to St. Agnes Hospital on Sunday, March 31 after he slipped and injured an ankle at a dance at Frederick road and Beaumont avenue.

Material from archives courtesy of the Catonsville Historical Society.